


Zero Escape: The Gravity Falls Project

by Crazy_Pairing_Person



Category: Gravity Falls, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Character Death, Drama, Fear, Fear of Death, Gen, Heavy Angst, Killing, M/M, Murder, Philosophy...?, Some humorous parts, sigma and phi are there as plot devices lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:57:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Pairing_Person/pseuds/Crazy_Pairing_Person
Summary: Nine people, locked in an unknown location, in an unknown shelter likely meant to survive a nuclear genocide. One insane madman, forcing them all to play a game that could end in death at any moment.Sounds like a bad horror movie, right?Oh, how Dipper wishes it could just be a movie.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hated Zero Time Dilemma. Wanna get THAT one out of the way right this fucking second. I hated that fucking game. I hated the graphics, I hated the ass-pulls that came from a game that I expected so much out of after Virtue's Last Reward, and I hated Delta. Just plain hated Delta, the biggest fucking ass-pull I've ever seen a game do. That's why I'm going to be as blunt as fucking all-get-out when it comes to using Sigma and Phi for nothing more than plot devices. Had I never played ZTD I may have had them as actual, good characters because I LOVED VLR but goddamn it, ZTD ruined them for me. I can no longer look at them without seeing that crappy game.
> 
> I also still don't ship BillDip (I mean I kinda can see the appeal but it's not my cup of tea) HOWEVER this particular fic somewhat begged me to make it a BillDip. I regret nothing.
> 
> (I love that as someone who's dedicated to shipping I'm more offended about ZTD characters in my fic than BillDip in my fic. Does this say something about me? Probably. Do I know what it is? Nope)

A pulsing headache and concrete walls greeted Dipper as he awoke from an unusually dreamless slumber. He sat up slowly, blinking away tiredness as he attempted to process his surroundings.

He was in a cell. A jail cell, it looked like. And there were two other people laying next to him.

One was his sister, Mabel. Obviously, he frantically rushed to wake her up before even sparing a glance to the stranger beside her.

"Mabel! Mabel, wake up! Something's wrong, something's seriously wrong here!" he hissed, frantically shaking Mabel. She was jostled awake easily enough, and out of reflex, she punched him right in the nose.

The ensuing shout of pain woke up the white-haired woman that was with them.

The two women sat up, with Mabel giving a tired yawn, and the stranger just looking around, bored.

"Where are we?" Mabel asked as soon as she realized that they weren't in their room back at the shack. Her eyes fell on the stranger. "And... Who're you?"

"Name's Phi. I have about as much of an idea where we are as you do," she said with a shrug.

"I'm Mabel and this is Dipper!" Mabel chirped, far too trusting of the woman in Dipper's opinion. For all they knew, she could be the reason that they were in this place!

Dipper looked around. The cell was completely empty aside from them. He stood up and approached the cell bars, looking through them to see where they were.

All he saw was what looked like a warehouse with pretty much nothing in it. Well, except a large screen against one wall, and three doors, each of different colors, on another. Then there was, obviously, a large garage-like door with a giant, red X painted on it.

The X wasn't obvious, but the door being there was. How else would someone get into a warehouse?

"No, wait, this isn't right..."

Dipper turned around, looking at Phi in confusion. "Uh, yeah, anyone could have guessed that we're not meant to be here. Ergo, this isn't right."

Phi shook her head, and held up her wrist, showing an odd... Watch-like bracelet... Thing. "I shouldn't have this. The Nonary games are  _over_. There aren't supposed to be  _anymore Nonary games_."

"Nonary games?" Mabel asked.

Phi sighed, and shook her head. "Never mind." Then, after a pause, she added, "You guys should have one too. A bracelet."

Curious, Dipper and Mabel both checked, only to see that she was right. They both had bracelets, except...

"Wait, yours are blank. Mine has a number on it," Dipper said.

Phi waved him over, and Dipper showed her the bright red 0 on his bracelet.

"Well, in one of the Nonary games, that would mean that you'd be dead," she said. "But apparently that's not how this game is played, because as we can see, you're alive and well."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Wait, wait, what did you just-"

A loud rattling cut Dipper off. He spun around, and watched as the cell bars slowly lifted up, allowing him, Mabel and Phi a way out.

They took it, rushing out of the cell before whoever had let them out could change their mind.

As soon as they were out, more rattling was heard, and the three turned around to see that there were two more cells, and one was opening.

Out came Ford, Stan, and another stranger.

"Sigma! You're here too?!" Phi cried out.

"Kids!" Ford and Stan cried at the same time. The two groups rushed together, making sure each other was okay.

Before any questions could be asked, or any theories could be suggested, the third cell opened. The six jumped, and turned to see who would step out.

Wendy, a blue-haired stranger...

And a human Bill Cipher.

Mabel ducked behind Dipper, who spread his arms out protectively in front of his sister. "Bill! What are you doing here?!"

Bill blinked, lips parted slightly and eye glazed over. Dipper took in his human appearance. Dark skin, yellow hair, and one eye hidden behind an eyepatch.

When Bill didn't respond to the question, Ford repeated it, "What are you doing here?!"

"Doing..." Bill repeated. "How can I be doing anything...? I've lost my powers..."

"Yeah right!" Dipper said. "We're not buying it!"

"It's true."

The words didn't come from Bill. Everyone spun to see the screen on the wall on, showing a cloaked figure wearing a mask. The voice was distorted, so no one could place it.

"Bill Cipher has lost his powers, because I took them from him. Or rather, I blocked them. This game wouldn't be much fun with an omniscent, all-powerful being playing it, now would it? Even worse, what if he had simply teleported himself away? That would be even less fun."

"This game isn't fun to begin with, asshole!" Sigma snapped.

"My, my. Are you forgetting, Sigma, that you ran the third Nonary Game? You're as much of a murderer as Akane or Delta or I."

Sigma took a step back, averting his gaze. "That's different. Akane, Delta and I all had reasons."

"And how do you know that I do not have a reason?"

"I'm sorry to interject," Ford spoke, "but I believe someone mentioned murder! Should the rest of us be concerned?"

"Not if you play your cards right, Ford," the cloaked figure said. "Ah, how rude of me. I've forgotten to introduce myself. Call me Zero the fourth."

Zero chuckled, unnerving everyone. "This is just messed up. What exactly are we doing here?" Wendy asked. "And what's with the bracelet things?"

"Ah, ah, ah, patience is a virtue," Zero said. "To begin with, I will explain the rules of our little game here."

Zero paused, likely for suspense, then began, "To begin, look at the large door with the X, for me," Zero said. Everyone hesitantly complied. "This door is the only way you have to the outside world. It is locked. The door will only open when someone obtains three points."

"How do we get points?" Ford immediately asked.

"I was getting to that," Zero said, sounding annoyed. "When the game begins, a team of three will go through each one of the colorful doors on the opposite end of the room - three in the red door, three in the yellow door, and three in the blue door. You will search the room you enter for a key. This key is the only way to leave that room once you've entered for the first time. After you find it and unlock the second door, you are free to leave and enter that room however you wish."

"Still waiting for the points," Wendy said.

An annoyed sigh came from Zero. "The first team to find a key will have a private vote. Each person will go into one of the cells, and choose one person who was on the last team to find their key. You are not allowed to talk about who you're voting for. Every time someone votes for someone else, that someone else loses a point, while the first person gains one. You basically steal from the other person!" There was a pause there. Everyone felt like it was much worse than that.

"And if the person gets negative three points or less... They die."

Everyone, except Bill, gasped in horror.

"Your bracelets keep track of the points you have. At the moment, only three of you can see your points. This is because those three are the team leaders. Dipper, Ford, and Wendy. When the game begins, you three will choose who you want on your team for the first round. When the second round begins, you'll have to choose again. Team leaders cannot be on each other's team." Zero paused again. "Your bracelets will also be how you die."

"Soporil and tubocurarine, right?" Phi said.

"That's right! That's what's inside your bracelets, and that's what they'll inject you with! For those who don't know, the soporil will put you to sleep. Nine minutes later, the tubocurarine will be injected. That is a powerful muscle relaxant, that eventually will shut down your respiratory system and kill you with asphyxiation!"

Everyone looked at each other, all concerned - except Bill, who was still dazed over losing his power.

"Come now, Bill. You're currently as mortal as any of them! Unless your power comes back, and I doubt it will, you should be as worried as they are!" Zero said, obviously upset that someone wasn't scared of dying.

Bill didn't respond.

Zero sighed in disappointment. "To choose your teams, team leaders, simply touch your bracelets to the other person's. Each person gets two people on their team." Zero paused, yet again. He was fond of pausing. "Also, only people with three points can go through the door. You're probably all thinking, 'Oh, just one person has to get three points, then we can all leave together!' WRONG! If you attempt to sneak through that door without three points, you will be injected with soporil and tubocurarine, just like if you got negative three points! Now, any questions before the game begins?"

"Why are you doing this?" Phi asked.

"I don't have to answer that."

"Let us go!" Dipper shouted.

"Not a question!"

"Do we have to play this game?" Bill mumbled, finally reacting to everything.

"I  _could_ just inject you all now with the soporil and tubocurarine..."

"NO!" everyone shouted.

Everyone frantically shook their heads.

"Didn't think so! Now... Let the Nonary game... BEGIN!"

And with that, Zero's face disappeared from the screen. A bell sounded, and a robotic woman's voice came through some speakers on the ceiling, "The Nonary game has begun. Please select your teams."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Round one's teams will be revealed in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Stan said, looking down at his bracelet with a scowl.

Dipper attempted to remove his bracelet, but it was stuck on his wrist. He guessed that it was the same for the others, otherwise they could all just take off the bracelets and not have to worry about being poisoned.

Of course, it couldn't be that easy, could it?

"We really don't," Sigma said, agreeing with Stan.

"The teams should consist of whoever was in the cells together for the first round," Phi suggested. "Zero must have put them together for a reason."

"Which is why we shouldn't do that," Sigma said. "Zero is clearly a sociopath, or even a psychopath. We can't just do what he wants."

"We can if our lives are on the line!" Ford said.

Dipper glanced over at the blue-haired male, who had been terrifyingly silent this entire time. "Who are you?" he asked. Everyone turned to the stranger, watching as he shrunk back.

"M... My name is W-Will..."

"Do you have any input on the teams?"

"It's... It's not my place to say, is it? It's up to the team leaders, s-so my opinion doesn't matter..."

Dipper stared at Will, taking his appearance in. He was dark-skinned, with piercing blue eyes, and wore a baggy blue hoodie and sweatpants. He glanced further down, and noticed two more things.

Will was barefoot, and there was a broken chain on his ankle.

Before Dipper could say anything about it, though, Wendy spoke, "I don't want him on my team. He's bringing me down. Plus, I don't want an insane triangle on my team, either." She paused. "But if Ford and Dipper want to go with their cellmates, I guess I'll be fine. Just letting you guys know what I'd prefer."

Sigma sighed. "And I've told you what I think. Obviously, Ford disagrees with me, so it's up to Dipper."

And with that, everyone looked to Dipper for his input.

Dipper hesitated. He looked to Phi. "Phi, how did you know about soporil and tubocurarine?" Was she in on this?

"Sigma and I have... Been through something like this before," she said softly. "Twice, to be exact. And it happened one other time, but we've only heard about it, we weren't involved with that game."

"Can something with such high stakes be called a game?" Bill asked, finally seeming to come back to being... Somewhat himself. "Perhaps it's a game to Zero, but it couldn't possibly be one for us." To make his point, he added, "Weirdmageddon may have been a party for me, but I'm sure everyone here involved with that may think differently."

"If you can admit that, I question why you bothered in the first place," Ford said bitterly.

Bill shrugged, and said, "I'm a demon. I have some pretty messed up morals."

"I don't want to be on a team with a demon," Phi immediately said. "Just saying, Dipper."

Dipper sighed. "Listen, Sigma, Wendy, I know you guys don't like the idea of going with how the cells were set up. But Ford's right - our lives are on the line. For now, we should go with what Zero wants, or at least seems to want in this case."

Wendy nodded in understanding, and Sigma sighed. "I'm taking orders from a kid," he mumbled.

"I'm sixteen!"

"You look thirteen."

Dipper crossed his arms, cheeks burning with humiliation. "Whatever," he snapped. He touched his bracelet to Mabel's and then to Phi's. Their bracelets lit up with red zeroes.

Ford touched his bracelet to Stan's, then to Sigma's. Wendy did the same to Bill's and Will's. Respectively, their bracelets lit up with blue zeroes and yellow zeroes.

"Who's going through each door?" Bill asked, crossing his arms.

"We should go by the colors of our bracelets. Red in red, blue in blue, yellow in yellow," Mabel suggested. "You know, since we're going by what Zero apparently wants."

"But he didn't say that the colors mattered," Sigma said. Then, under his breath, he mumbled, "Not like the third Nonary Game."

Phi nodded in agreement with Sigma. "He's right. It really doesn't matter. But what do the team leaders think?"

"We should go with Mabel's suggestion," Wendy said. "It makes it simpler."

"I think that would be the best solution - just to be safe. The colors might not be just a way to tell who the teams are."

Dipper nodded in agreement with the other two. "It's settled then."

Mabel, Phi and Dipper all approached the red door. It opened automatically, once it sensed them approaching it. Dipper turned to watch Ford, Stan and Sigma all enter the blue door, and Wendy, Bill and Will enter the yellow one.

He followed his team, and found that this door led to a hallway, with doors all leading up and down it.

"This looks like a bunker," Phi said. She opened one door, and nodded. "Yep. Bunker. See?"

Dipper and Mabel looked into the room, and saw nothing more than a bed and a set of lockers.

"The key could be in any one of these rooms," Mabel said. She glanced down at the end of the hall. "That door must be the one we're meant to unlock, right?" she said, pointing down at the end of the hall.

Dipper approached it, and noticed a keyhole - something the door they'd come in was lacking. "Must be."

He clicked his tongue, and noticed numbers on the doors, labelled one through six. "I say we split up. Mabel can take one and two, Phi can take three and four, and I'll take five and six. If anyone finds the key, make sure to let the other two know. Sound good?"

"Sounds good, though the last bit was unnecessary to say. What, would we just leave the room without telling and lock each other in or something?" Phi said dryly.

Mabel and Dipper chose not to respond, and both went to one of their rooms. Phi shrugged, and went into one of hers.

Dipper got down on his knees and checked under the bed, but it was too dark for him to really see anything. The key probably wouldn't be somewhere so obvious anyway, he supposed. He stood up, and approached the lockers.

Luckily, they were all unlocked. In four of them, there was nothing. He was fully expecting the same in the last one, but he was wrong.

There was a stone rabbit statue. What the fuck?

Dipper reached up, and tried to pick it up. It wouldn't budge. He pulled harder, and heard a loud groaning noise. With a jolt, he realized that the lockers were going to come down on top of him!

As fast as he could, he ran out of the way, heart pounding in his chest. The lockers fell behind him with a loud bang. Within seconds, Phi and Mabel came running in to see what had happened.

"Dipper!" Mabel cried. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he assured her, though he still felt as though he may faint just from the shock of nearly being killed by a bunch of lockers.

"Look!" Phi said, running over. "The key!"

The key, sure enough, was taped to the back of the lockers.

"That's kind of a dumb hiding spot," Mabel commented as Phi pulled the key off. "What if Dipper had been crushed by those?!"

"But he wasn't. That's all that's important," Phi said. "He's fine."

She paused. "Though, I'm sure there is a timeline where he was crushed."

"What?" Mabel and Dipper said.

Phi waved a dismissive hand. "Never mind, don't worry about it. He's fine, so let's go."

The twins both sighed, and followed Phi out of the room and to the locked door. They watched as she unlocked the door, prompting an announcement over the speakers.

"The first key has been found."

Dipper and Mabel followed after Phi, through the door and into a long, twisting hallway. Eventually, they came to an elevator. Two other hallways also led to the elevator.

"The other rooms probably lead here. We should wait for them," Mabel suggested.

"Guess that's all we can do," Dipper agreed. Phi nodded.

And so, wait they did.


	3. Chapter 3

"The second key has been found."

That announcement came roughly three minutes after Dipper, Mabel and Phi arrived at the elevator. One minute after the announcement, Wendy, Bill and Will came down one of the hallways.

"I guess ol' Sixer's team is up for voting, then," Bill commented. He seemed to be doing better now, if his calling Ford by his nickname was any indication. Phi seemed confused at it, but didn't question him.

While they waited, Dipper spoke. "So, none of your powers are working, Bill? None at all? Not even some meaningless one?"

Annoyed, Bill said, "I only have one power that I've never needed, including right now. I doubt it's working, though. Zero seems pretty thorough and I don't think he would want to risk it."

"What's the power?" Wendy asked.

"It's called 'SHIFT assist'. The SHIFT part stands for 'Spacetime Human Internal Fluctuating Transfer'."

Phi seemed to perk up slightly, her eyes growing wide, but everyone else was too focused on Bill to notice.

"Normally, SHIFT only works on the user. But 'SHIFT assist' allows me to make it work on someone else instead. Basically, I can send someone's consciousness to another timeline." He waved a hand, obviously bored. "But, like I said, I've never needed nor used it. Maybe if I had regular SHIFT I would use it, but I don't."

"Why not?" Dipper asked.

"Regular SHIFT is something only espers have. They're the ones who named it, actually. Demons like me never had a name for our power, so we just took theirs and tacked 'assist' to the end of it."

"SHIFT is meant to work only in extreme danger," Phi said, getting everyone's attention. "Or, that's how you train it anyway. If you've never needed it, then will it even work when you do?"

"It will. Unlike SHIFT, SHIFT assist only works when the user experiences an extremely strong emotion. If I need it, I'm guessing I'll be feeling something strongly enough to use it."

"How do you know about SHIFT, Phi?" Mabel asked.

Phi hesitated, her cheeks lighting up a bright red color. "I... I actually can use SHIFT. I'm an esper."

"Do you have SHIFT assist too?" Dipper asked.

"I wouldn't know, I've never tried sending anyone's consciousness other than my own back through time."

Before anymore questions could be asked, an announcement came.

"The third and final key has been found."

Minutes later, Ford, Stan and Sigma entered through the last hallway. "It looks like we're the ones being voted on," Ford said, looking nervous.

Since Zero had said that they couldn't talk about who was voting for who, Dipper was unable to point out that he and Mabel would  _never_ vote for Ford or Stan. Which meant that Sigma was going to lose at least two points...

Which would put him one point away from death. Dipper swallowed thickly.

Another announcement came, "Please return to the main warehouse for voting."

Everyone stood up and went through the Bunkers to get to the 'main warehouse'. Dipper wondered if this meant there was another warehouse in the building...

Once they got to the main warehouse, Dipper, Mabel and Phi all entered the cells. Dipper went into the left one, Mabel into the middle, and Phi into the right one.

Dipper spotted a small screen on a wall that hadn't been there before. As soon as he fully stepped into the cell, the bars went down behind him.

Dipper examined the screen. It had one button with Ford's name, one with Stan's, and one with Sigma's.

"You have five minutes to enter your vote," the announcement said. "If no vote is entered, you will lose one point."

So Dipper  _had_ to put in a vote.

He didn't want to put Sigma one point away from death, but what could he do? Even more than that, he didn't want to vote for his great uncles...

That in his mind, he pressed the button with Sigma's name. The machine dinged, and the words 'Vote Accepted!' flashed across his screen.

Dipper could only hope that Phi didn't also vote for Sigma. He knew Mabel probably would, she loved her uncles far too much. So if Phi voted for Sigma...

But why would she do that? The two seemed to know each other. Yes, Sigma would be safe, and hopefully he wouldn't be on the losing team in the next round. Maybe he'd even be on the winning team!

"Voting is over. The results will now be displayed in the main warehouse."


	4. Chapter 4

The bars lifted, and Dipper, Mabel and Phi all left the cells. The three of them approached the screen, where the others were already waiting for the results.

Finally, the screen lit up with who had voted for who.

'DIPPER: SIGMA'

'MABEL: NO ONE'

'PHI: STAN'

An announcement came, "The points have been distributed according to the votes."

"Mabel!" Dipper said. "You didn't vote?!"

Mabel looked away, looking upset. "I knew you'd vote for Sigma, which would mean he'd have negative two votes if I voted for him, and if that happened, he'd..."

Be one point away from death.

"But now you'll just lose a point," Dipper said.

"I don't care! If I'd voted for Sigma he could have died in the next round, and I didn't want to vote for Grunkle Stan or Ford!"

Dipper sighed, crossing his arms. He knew how Mabel felt - it was the same thing that had crossed his mind, after all. The difference was, he'd acted on self-preservation, while Mabel had acted on the kindness of her heart.

"Next time, you have to vote, Mabel," Sigma said. "I appreciate it, I do, but this game is based on trying to survive long enough to get three points. If you don't vote, you won't be able to do that."

Mabel ducked her head, cheeks burning with humiliation. "I understand..."

Dipper sighed. Another announcement came, "Round two will now begin. The teams have been reset. The new team leaders are Dipper, Phi, and Stan."

"Looks you three get to choose your teams now," Ford said.

"I'll go first," Phi said. "I want Sigma on my team, I don't care who else I get."

"I want Mabel on my team," Dipper said.

"I want Ford on my team," Stan said.

The three touched their bracelets to Sigma's, Mabel's and Ford's, respectively. This left Wendy, Bill and Will left.

Dipper hesitated for a moment, glancing between Bill and Will. "Let's take Will," Dipper suggested to Mabel.

"I'll take Wendy," Phi said, and touched her bracelet to Wendy's.

Ford scowled at Bill, and Bill glared. Dipper paused. If he took Will, then that would force Ford to be on the same team as Bill...

"Actually, we'll take Bill instead," he said, stepping over to touch his bracelet to Bill's. Bill blinked, staring at him in shock.

"Don't look at me like that," Dipper said. "I'm only doing this so you and Ford don't kill each other."

"I think you mean so I don't kill him. Which I can't, because I've lost all of my powers," Bill said, smirking at Dipper.

"Call this a precautionary measure, then."

Stan touched his bracelet to Will's, and that was it. The teams were set.

"So what now? The keys in those rooms have already been found," Wendy pointed out.

"Maybe we should head for that elevator," Ford suggested.

This time, they went through the blue door - the one Ford, Stan and Sigma had gone into. It turned out to be a lounge-like area, with a bar and everything...

And it was completely trashed.

"Sigma and Stan went a little nuts trying to find a screwdriver," Ford said. "The key was locked in the light fixture." He pointed at the shattered glass on the ground. "Eventually Stan just threw a wine bottle at it."

"And I regret nothing!"

They continued on, heading towards the elevator. There was only one button next to the doors, and Dipper pressed it. The doors opened, and all nine of them stepped in.

The doors automatically closed, and they were brought up to another hallway that also branched in three directions.

"I guess each team should go down a different hallway," Sigma said, stating the obvious.

"Well, we can't see the door colors from here, so we have no way of determining who should go where based on that. Guess we'll each have to pick one at random..." Ford said.

Mabel pointed down the left hallway. "Dipper! Let's go down that one!"

"Why?"

"Left is my favorite direction!"

"You have a favorite... Never mind," Phi said, shaking her head. "We'll take the middle one, then."

"Fine by me," Stan said with a shrug.

Dipper sighed shakily. "May the best team win," he said, and the teams split up down their respective hallways.


End file.
